Woodville railway station, Adelaide

Woodville
Location	Woodville Road Woodville
Line(s)	Grange Line, Outer Harbor Line
Distance	7.5 km from Adelaide
Platforms	3
Bus routes	100 Circle Line 150 to Osborne (Port Road) 155 to West Lakes (Port Road) 157 to Largs Bay (Port Road)
Construction
Parking	Yes
Bicycle facilities	Yes
History
Opened	1856
Services
Preceding station   TransAdelaide   Following station Woodville Park toward Adelaide Grange line Albert Park toward Grange Outer Harbor line St Clair toward Outer Harbor

Woodville railway station is the junction station for the Grange and Outer Harbor lines with the lines diverging immediately north of the station.^[1] Situated in the western Adelaide suburb of Woodville, it is 7.5 kilometres from Adelaide station.

It has auto pedestrian gates and lights, the only location with these lights on the line. Platform 3 has a small kiosk that sells refreshments and tickets, built around 2006.

History

Northbound view in October 2005

Track layout at Woodville station showing former Holdens station.

Track layout at Woodville station in 2005

Woodville station was one of the original stations on the Adelaide to Port Adelaide railway, which opened in April 1856. The only other intermediate stations on the new line were at Bowden and Alberton.

In the early days, Adelaide to Port Adelaide was a single-track railway and a passing loop was provided at Woodville. As traffic on the line increased, the single track was duplicated throughout in 1881.

In September 1882, a line was opened from Woodville to Grange, built by the Grange Railway and Investment Company. Unlike the Adelaide to Port Adelaide route, which was built and operated by the South Australian Government, the Grange line was a private venture, constructed to tap into potential development in the area between Woodville and the coast. The new line ran into a bay platform at Woodville. Although there was a connection to the main line, it was not possible for Grange line trains to conveniently continue to Adelaide.

The Grange railway company, with its rolling stock of two locomotives and four carriages, was not a financial success and was forced to operate on a shoestring budget right from the start. Following its collapse, the South Australian Railways took over operation in 1891, using a steam tram in place of the more conventional locomotive and carriages. The Grange line was fully bought out by the State Government in 1893, and in 1894 was extended from Grange southwards to Henley Beach along Military Road.

Following modifications to the track layout at Woodville in 1909, it became possible for trains from the Henley Beach and Grange line to travel through to Adelaide.

The 1920s and 1930s saw significant development of heavy industry in Woodville and the neighbouring areas. For example, Holdens Motor Body Builders (later General Motors Holden) built a factory in the fork between the Grange and Outer Harbor lines. Sidings were laid to service the factory and Holdens station opened in 1928 a short way along the Grange line. Cars were dispatched by rail from Holdens' sidings. The Grange line also serviced the Cheltenham Racecourse station for Saturday horse racing events up until the 1960s.

The Woodville signal cabin became obsolete after a resignalling project in the late 1980s and has been relocated to the National Railway Museum at Port Adelaide.

Branch lines

In World War II several munitions and armaments factories were opened, which resulted in construction of two new industrial branch lines in the Woodville area.

The Finsbury line was opened in September 1940 and departed from the main line at Woodville. It headed in a northerly direction and serviced a wartime munitions works at Cheltenham Park and a Government Supply Depot at Finsbury. The line continued through Pennington to join the Dry Creek-Port Adelaide railway at Gillman Junction.

The layout at Woodville station was altered in 1942 when a new platform face was constructed on the north-east side of today’s Platform 3 to serve Finsbury trains. The original 1856 station building on the Port Adelaide-bound platform was demolished and a new signal cabin was provided adjacent to the Woodville Road level crossing.

The Hendon line was a short branch that diverged from the Grange line at Albert Park and ran 1.1 kilometres to Hendon munitions works opening in November 1940. There were no intermediate stations. Following the closure of the munitions factories after the war, the Finsbury line continued to provide limited passenger services to post-war factories established in the obsolete munitions factories, one of these was the South Australian Brush Company at Hendon.

Both of these industrial lines had limited passenger services, designed mainly to cater for workers at factories in the vicinity. After the end of World War II there were no off-peak trains, or weekend services after Saturday lunchtime.

The Woodville to Henley Beach branch was cut back to Old Grange on 1 September 1957. The Finsbury line closed on 17 August 1979 and the Hendon line on 1 February 1980.

All of these lines are now long dismantled and it is hard to find any trace of where they ran. The Islamic Arabic Centre & Al-Khalil Mosque on Torrens Road, Woodville North stands where the extensive Woodville North station platform used to stand until the 1980s.

Services by platform

For many years the Grange line was operated by a shuttle service train at weekends and in the evenings. This terminated at Platform 1 and made connections with Outer Harbor line trains to and from Adelaide. However, since about 1996, all Grange trains have operated through to Adelaide.

Transport links

References

• Rails Through Swamp and Sand – A History of the Port Adelaide Railway. M. Thompson pub. Port Dock Station Railway Museum (1988) ISBN 0-9595073-6-1

External links

Media related to Woodville railway station, Adelaide at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 34°52′37″S 138°32′16″E / 34.877004°S 138.537779°E / -34.877004; 138.537779